Nosh Pit

Restaurant Shifts and Shakeups

This week: Regent Bakery and Café opens in Capitol Hill, West Seattle loses Avalon, and Branzino’s new chef has big plans.

Posted by: Anne Larkin on Feb 10, 2012 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

Brightly colored pastries keep company with savory hot pots at the new Capitol Hill Regent Bakery and Cafe. Photo courtesy of their website.

OPENINGS

Pomegranate Bistro
The sunny Redmond restaurant is adding a bar—Pombar —on Thursday, February 16. The Bistro website says that to celebrate the opening, happy hour will go on all night, from 3:30 till the bar closes at 10.

Ben and Jerry’s
The Greenlake ice cream shop re-opened Thursday after getting new owners and a remodel, says My Green Lake. Now we just need another sunny ice cream-worthy weekend.

Regent Bakery and Café
The new Pine Street outpost of the famed Redmond bakery opened Wednesday on the corner of 14th and Pine, reports Capitol Hill Seattle. The shop does, of course, have pretty Japanese-meets-French pastries, but to our happy surprise, also a full-on savory Chinese lunch and dinner menu with items like hot pots and fried rice. And booze! The new restaurant plans to capitalize on the neighborhoods nightlife, with hours from 11 to midnight and a full bar.

The Amber Den
After a softly-open first week, the laid-back Ballard spot is now officially open. Eater Seattle’s got photos, and it’s the sunniest wine bar we’ve ever seen.

Paseo
Fremont Universe brings the good news that Paseo reopens today, after a long, Cuban sandwich-less winter break.

COMING SOON

Hot Cakes
For the past 4 years, former Theo chocolatier Autumn Martin has been providing Seattle with decadent treats, first in the form of chocolatey bake-at-home jarred cakes, more recently with cookies, hand pies, and sauces. She’s been selling at farmers’ markets and in a few retail locations, but Rebekah Denn of the The Seattle Times says that Martin just signed a lease for her very own space on (where else) Ballard Ave and has plans to open in May.

Five Hooks Fish Grill
Recently shuttered Tenoch Mexican Grill atop Queen Anne will soon be replaced by a “renewable seafood” restaurant, according to Eater Seattle.

CLOSINGS

Big news. Le Gourmand and Sambar
Bruce and Sarah Naftaly are are closing down their seminal Ballard restaurant and companion cocktail spot in June, after 27 wonderful years. Cookbooks, baking, and family time will replace the bustle of kitchen life for the Naftalys. More here.

Avalon
After just over a year, this fine-dining option in West Seattle is closing its doors. Owners told the West Seattle Herald that the rent was too high, the location was far from ideal, and that maybe there’s only room for one fancy restaurant in West Seattle. Or maybe not.

663 Bistro
One of Tom Douglas (and our) favorite I.D. BBQ spots was temporarily shut down by the Health Department, says The Stranger. …We did say “dodgy.”

SHIFT CHANGES

Branzino
After hopping around from Verve to Oddfellows to Terra Plata, Chef Garrett Michael Brown seems to have finally settled at Branzino, where he’s planning to revamp the menu and revivify the restaurant.

RN74
A new chef and perhaps some big menu changes for Michael Mina’s Downtown French restaurant. Seis Kamimura of Spago and Boka (among others) is taking the helm, and though he was trained at the French Culinary Institute, expect “bold interpretations” of the classics.

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Tags: Seattle Restaurant Openings, Shift Change, Pomegranate Bistro, Ice Cream, Sambar, Le Gourmand, Seattle Restaurant Closings, Bar Openings, Bar Openings, Closings, Branzino

Branzino Brings in New Chef, Revamps Menu

“It’s kind of like we’re hitting the reset button,” says Garrett Michael Brown.

Posted by: Christopher Werner on Feb 06, 2012 at 01:46PM 1 Comments

Does a new chef and menu signal a comeback for Branzino? Photo courtesy branzinoseattle.com.

Belltown’s Branzino opened several years ago to plaudits and accolades from local food folk. The appearance of the restaurant’s executive cook, Ashley Merriman, on Top Chef kept the buzz coming for awhile thereafter, then the spot sort of fell out of conversation. But Branzino’s most recent hire believes the restaurant is about to get its second wind.

“It’s kind of like we’re hitting the reset button,” says Garrett Michael Brown, new executive chef. “We’re poised to make a comeback and hit it again.”

Brown started the day after Christmas but only recently revealed the transition. Before settling at Branzino, Brown engaged in a bit of kitchen hopscotch following the closure of Verve, where he spent five years: for a few short months he was at Oddfellows, then took an even shorter stint at Terra Plata.

With the addition of Brown has come a slew of changes. All the pasta is now made in-house, for example, and the kitchen is aging and curing meats. The menu rotates weekly, and is far more rooted in local ingredients. Brown describes the focus as “Northwest based in Italian.”

So, anybody been lately? What’d you think?

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Tags: Shift Change, Garrett Michael Brown, Branzino

Playing Tourist, Foodie Edition

Our hungry correspondent straps on her fanny pack for a culinary jaunt through Belltown.

Posted by: Calise Cardenas on Oct 09, 2009 at 12:00PM 0 Comments

We’d seen them many times: crowds of tourists packing in and out of downtown restaurants and Pike Place Market stands. Wondering what it was all about, we recently tagged along as Seattle Food Tours’ Michael Rogers showed some curious and culinary-minded folks around Belltown. (Tour goers can chose the the Belltown tour: $50, Tue–Sat, or a tour of Pike Place Market: $40, daily.)

Here’s what it was like.

The Belltown tour kicks off in “ToDo.” According to Rogers, that’s the local nickname for the downtown area that features six of Tom Douglas’ restaurants—all within walking distance. Given the two-and-a-half hour time constraint, however, we only have time to stop in at Lola and sample the griddled, whole wheat pita with three delectable spreads: cucumber yogurt tzatziki, cauliflower-anchovy, and roasted red pepper harissa.

After that, it’s off to the Queen City Grill for crab cake sliders and some interesting tidbits about the history of Belltown’s dive bars. (Apparently the average B-Town resident didn’t always make $65,000 a year.)

The next stop featured some tongue-twisting treats from Txori, a “traditional pintxo bar,” where we enjoy tapas and canutillos served up by Chef Joey Serquinia. Once we are finished, Rogers instructs us to throw our tissue paper to the floor—a Basque gesture that communicates our compliments to the chef.

From Txori, the tour heads down two blocks to Shiro’s Sushi Restaurant, home to one of the most respected and well-known chefs in the country—Shiro Kashiba, where we crowd around for a glimpse of live uni (sea urchin). Rogers tells us that Pike Place merchants always save the best uni for Shiro.

At the fifth and final restaurant, Branzino, tour-goers are in for a treat—a specially prepared gnocchi with braised rabbit and chanterelle mushrooms and a glass of white wine. With the restaurant portion peaking at Branzino, the tour then tapers off nicely with a nearly-flowerless brownie (so light that it settles wonderfully on a full stomach) at Macrina.

A short walk up the street brings the tour to its final stop at The Local Vine —an establishment that lives up to its name by offering regional wines and perks for repeat customers. With a glass of dry Chateau St. Michelle Riesling in hand, we end with a toast and a chance to ruminate on the food experience in a relaxed setting. All in all an afternoon well spent. We should do this tourist thing more often.

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Not hungry? Savor Seattle has a coffee tour.

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Tags: Lola, Macrina Bakery, Branzino, Queen City Grill, Seattle Food Tours, Txori, Shiro's Sushi Restaurant, The Local Vine

Friday Night Specials: September 18

Craving gnocchi? You’re in luck.

Posted by: Leah Kraus on Sep 17, 2009 at 05:00PM 0 Comments

If you’re in the mood for gnocchi, tonight’s your night. At Brasa, the gooey, dense goodness comes loaded with foraged mushrooms, sauteed spinach, chives, and brown butter. Go big—splurge on the large portion for $18—or start with the smaller portion for $10 then move onto the other special: hanger steak prepared over an applewood grill and garnished with celeriac, potato mash, and grilled radicchio with red wine reduction for $23.

Or check out other Belltown hotspot Branzino. There the gnocchi is topped off with rabbit and lobster mushrooms for $17. If that doesn’t put the rumbly in your tumbly try the golden trout with beluga lentils, $21.

No gnocchi at Brad’s Swingside Café in Fremont, but, hey, even the most die-hard gnocchi nosher would be content with their $22 organic hind quarters of rabbit served with seasonal vegetables and rosemary tarte cherry pomegranate sauce. Also on the specials menu are local, organic free range baby back ribs served with a homemade BBQ sauce (we’re told it’s made with eight kinds of peppers), potatoes, and swiss chard, $22. Surprise seafood specials are also in the works.

Nothing catching your eye? Peruse our restaurant review database to find the city’s best dining bets.

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Tags: Branzino, Brasa, Friday Night Specials, Brad's Swingside Cafe